[Warning: The next incorporates spoilers from the Season four finale of Riverdale, “Killing Mr. Honey.” Learn at your individual danger!]
Riverdale could not have ended Season four precisely how creator and showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa imagined because of the manufacturing shut down amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, however the impromptu finale nonetheless left followers with their jaws on the ground Wednesday night.
Episode 19, “Killing Mr. Honey,” was directed by series star Madchen Amick, and featured a number of homicide fantasies because the core 4 and their mates plotted easy methods to get again at Principal Honey (Kerr Smith) for ruining their senior 12 months. Interspersed between the fantasy and story sequences, the voyeur who has been sending static videotapes of the entrance of the characters’ homes stepped up their sport. The brand new duplicate video confirmed “Jughead” (Cole Sprouse) and the remainder of his mates killing Mr. Honey for actual.
What was the which means behind the ominous video, and what are the voyeur’s actual motives with these disturbing tapes? These are questions that must partly be answered when the present ultimately returns for Season 5. Amick teased to TV Information throughout our preview chat for the episode that Riverdale was “planning on a little bit of a time soar, after [the teens had] all gone off to varsity and one thing brings them again to the city,” so we caught up with Aguirre-Sacasa to debate how the abbreviated Season four is altering plans for subsequent 12 months and whether or not that massive time soar continues to be on the desk.
Cole Sprouse, Lili Reinhart, Casey Cott, KJ Apa, and Camila Mendes, Riverdale
How has this interruption altered the plan for Season 5?
Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa: We nonetheless had two and a half episodes left to shoot. Clearly the factor we had been actually constructing to was was commencement in Episode 22. So, when all of this sort of occurred, the very first thing I did was take a look at all of the footage from Episode 20. Though we had already shot the massive occasion, which was promenade, there have been so many vital character scenes between Archie and Veronica and Betty and Jughead that we could not fairly cobble collectively the finale. I believe a couple of different reveals managed to take that footage from their final episodes and try this. We could not. Then I noticed the director’s minimize of Episode 19, “Killing Mr. Honey” and I liked it. I assumed that it was actually enjoyable as a result of all the children had been in a single massive story collectively, which we do not all the time do on Riverdale and it had a very ugly, surprising, cliffhanger that I believe actually bumps the videotape thriller as much as the subsequent stage.
So we thought, “Okay, properly let’s make this our finale. It is particular. It is received all the youngsters in it. It forwards the thriller in a very great way. Then we’ll do promenade as our season premiere subsequent 12 months. It is not very best, nonetheless, I really like this week’s episode. And I really like that we’re not short-changing issues like promenade and commencement. We’re saving them to do them subsequent 12 months.
I heard the plan was to do a giant time soar on the finish of this season to after the youngsters have gone to varsity. Is that also within the playing cards for Season 5 or one thing that must be re-worked contemplating the shutdown?
Aguirre-Sacasa: We’re within the room proper now. We’re doing the room through Zoom. We’re positively speaking about what Season 5 seems to be like. We’re positively choosing up proper the place we left off by way of the thriller, by way of the relationships…Then we’re speaking about what we will do. Often, time jumps are the very best after they occur in between seasons, however we’re positively speaking about all of our totally different choices, however I can let you know that the primary three episodes again, proceed precisely the place we left off.
Does that imply we cannot be saying goodbye to a few of our mother and father as quickly as we thought we might?
Aguirre-Sacasa: I referred to as Marisol and Skeet and mentioned, “Pay attention, guys. Clearly we’ve not completed this season’s storylines. We wish to try this and we wish to be certain we provide you with guys the best send-off.”…Marisol already knew what we had deliberate for Hermione and actually liked it, and wished to ensure we weren’t going to vary that — which we weren’t. Skeet was utterly down. As I mentioned to them earlier, I mentioned, “Even although they’re leaving as sequence regulars…neither character dies. My hope is that they are part of Riverdale so long as there is a Riverdale. Whilst we speak about tales for Season 5, if Hermione and FP match into these tales, we’re writing them that method and hopefully, we’ll be capable of use them, relying on what different commitments they’ve.
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Betty appeared able to squash no matter was happening between her and Archie within the final episode. Is that truly completed or may these emotions come again up in Season 5?
Aguirre-Sacasa; On the finish of final episode, when Betty and Archie had been within the bunker, it felt like Betty, you understand, regardless of the liaison was, it felt like for Betty, it type of reconfirmed her emotions about Jughead. For Archie, when it ended, I believe Archie felt type of confused and somewhat bit misplaced about what he wished. So that you’re positively nonetheless enjoying [with that]… In Episodes 20, 21, and 22, the episodes we would written, [Barchie] was an enormous a part of these episodes, and we’re nonetheless enjoying them. Neither Veronica nor Jughead have discovered about any of this. I do not know if it is a spoiler, however I can let you know that they positively will discover out in very other ways. I do not assume it is the top of the drama or it is the top of the love quadrangle by any stretch of the creativeness.
Does the voyeur have something to do with Jughead and Veronica discovering out? As a result of that particular person is aware of rather a lot about this good friend group.
Aguirre-Sacasa: I can let you know that the voyeur is concentrated on different issues apart from the 2 ships of Bughead and Varchie, however you are so proper that the voyeur most likely is aware of about it. However the voyeur is concentrated on different, darker, issues.
Are you able to speak about what the voyeur’s motives are for sending these videotapes? The Black Hood wished to cleanse Riverdale’s soul of sinners, however what’s the level of those tapes?
Aguirre-Sacasa: The voyeur is a really insidious villain. What the voyeur is doing is recreating horrific crimes that occurred in Riverdale, that occurred to our characters. In a method, it type of is demanding that the youngsters, who’ve develop into desensitized to violence or moved on and processed it a sure method, take a look at their highschool expertise and these traumas, and take care of them earlier than they go away Riverdale. That’s type of a theoretical, highfaluting thought of what the voyeur is doing. When the voyeur is revealed, there can be a really private purpose for why the voyeur is doing this, however I believe thematically, it’s this concept of deconstructing the crimes, and weirdly the thought of the present Riverdale, which is the concept children can expertise crimes and ugly murders and that should do one thing to them. It should have an effect on them in a roundabout way. We do not all the time play that, however that is what it feels just like the voyeur is all in favour of — the thought of trauma and what that does to a city and a bunch of youngsters.
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So..it is like remedy, however make it Riverdale?
Aguirre-Sacasa: Precisely. We all the time speak about influences, and one is that this filmmaker named Michael Haneke, who makes actually, actually intense, [thrilling] psychological motion pictures which can be all the time about darkish issues. One of many issues that he all the time does in his movies is he explores kids and violence, and youngsters and violence. That’s type of what impressed this.
Mr. Honey leaves Riverdale Excessive on the finish of the episode however is simply going to Stonewall Prep. Have we seen the final of him?
Aguirre-Sacasa: After we requested Kerr to come back be the brand new principal, clearly, to begin with, [we] liked the thought of getting somebody from a earlier teen hit present to come back. From the primary day he was on set, it was like, “Oh, this. I completely get this.” He is so pleased doing this. He would not thoughts being a villain…he was so nice. We wished to do rather a lot with Kerr. Now, there’s a universe the place Mr. Honey is useless on the finish of the episode as properly. I do not wish to say an excessive amount of, however I’ll say he is been superb and I am actually grateful for him as a result of he did an excellent, nice job.
Riverdale returns subsequent season on The CW.